A Deeper Faith
The reality of God does not have to be seen by those who trust Him…faith is so we can know Him more.
Let what I have seen you do form a deeper faith in me for what I have yet to see!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Trust in The Lord
You might even find yourself questioning who is reliable, truthful, or able to support you emotionally.
That is because our hearts and minds can lead us astray.
However, as we lean into God’s Word and His wisdom, we are promised that He will make our path straight.
Take a moment to reflect on your day. Are there any areas of your life you struggling to give the Lord? Is there anything that is weighing heavily on your heart? Allow God’s peace and wisdom to penetrate the deepest fears and biggest concerns of your life. He will guide and protect you!!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Speaking Of Faith in Action
- “Stand up.” — It took a lot of faith for that man who’s been trapped in that paralyzed body to stand up, but the man stood up.
- “Pick up your mat.” — The man had to take responsibility for himself; he couldn’t depend on others carrying him anymore. The man picked up his mat.
- “Walk.” — In other words, it was a command for this man to leave his former life where he had been totally dependent on others. So, what happened? The man began to walk!
That man left his old life, where he had been so incapacitated for all those years, to live a new life, all thanks to the supernatural healing power of Jesus.
Walking by Faith
For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:5-7)
Christians generally associate faith with their salvation experience, and rightly so. By believing in Christ, we enter into a relationship with Him. But that’s not the end—after that initial decision comes a lifetime of walking with Him.
Since the word walk is used to describe behavior and conduct, we may mistakenly conclude that after salvation, the Christian life is all about performance. But today’s verses clearly state that we walk with Christ in the same way we received Him—by faith. This means we place our trust in Him for every circumstance of life. To help us understand this, Paul uses some phrases in verse 7 that describe how confidence in God grows:
“Having been firmly rooted”—At the moment of salvation, believers are planted in Christ. As we anchor ourselves in the Lord, our roots grow deep, drawing spiritual nourishment from Him.
“Being built up in Him”—Through obedience, the believer’s life is built on the foundation of the Savior. God wants us to choose precious and valuable building materials that will last into eternity (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
“Established in your faith”—As we begin to understand more about the Lord and how He operates, our trust in Him increases. Then we experience stability, even in the winds of adversity.
In our goal-oriented society, it’s easy to forget that walking in Christ is a process. While on earth, we never “arrive” but are slowly transformed along the way. As we trust the Lord, our hearts will overflow with gratitude for all His blessings and the stability He offers in every circumstance.
I was encouraged by this devotion. I think as Christians we can be so overwhelmed by trying to “arrive” that we loose site of the true purpose of salvation and what God truly wants for us. Realize today that you are slowly transforming and it’s okay to go slow, He is with you every step of your journey helping you along the way. I realize we are our own worse critic, but today rest in knowing He offers true stability in every circumstance. One day we will stand before Him and I pray you hear, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. It will be in that moment in eternity that we have truly arrived. Until then, just keep putting one foot in front of the other and find the beauty in walking with Him each and every day. Walk by faith!
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Psalm 27:14
Genuine Faith
Just Step Out in Faith
Joshua sent two men to the enemy city of Jericho to spy out the land. Of all of the places they could end up staying, they lodged in the home of a harlot named Rahab. Once the king of Jericho heard of their whereabouts, he sent his men to go and find them, and the first place they went to was Rahab’s home. Instead of turning them in, she hid them and protected them from being caught. In return for her loyalty and faith in Israel’s God, she and her family were spared when the city walls of Jericho came down.
It is interesting to note that up until this time, neither she nor the inhabitants of Jericho had actually seen any of the Israelites. But they had heard of them. They heard of their conquests in the desert and how the Lord had parted the Red Sea. At this point, the Red Sea parting had occurred some forty years earlier. The fear of the Lord caused this response from Rahab; she knew which side she needed to be on. God had prepared the way by moving on Rahab’s heart even before these two men entered Jericho. The Israelites were about to take over the Promised Land, not because of their strength, but because of the Lord’s promise and power.
The same is true for us today. As Christians, we are blessed to live in God’s promises. The Bible is filled with His promises for us. Sometimes, the new land is hard to see and even harder to walk through, but if we just step out in faith, we will see how God has taken care of every step we need to take. As the Lord leads you in His purposes for your life, you will see how He has prepared even those around you. As God would continue to tell Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) Take this message with you today and go forth in all that the Lord is leading you to do. The Jordan River will part for you when the Lord sends you in.
This devotion blessed me, it reminded me that wherever God is leading, He has already made a way, in ways that are beyond what my mind can imagine. I doubt anyone thought Rahab would be the one to protect them and keep them from being caught but God made a way before they even got to Jericho and He chose Rahab. You never know who God will use to bless you when you take the step of faith and trust Him to guide your every footstep. Isaiah 43:16-19 says, Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters; Which bringeth forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power; they shall lie down together, they shall not rise: they are extinct, they are quenched as tow. Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. Just Step Out in Faith!
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Romans 10:9
Child-Like Faith
My sister and I had a good laugh the other day as we shared a conversation she had with her granddaughter. There was a minor problem with her car engine so my sister reached in the glove compartment for the owner’s manual. As she was looking through the pages, her granddaughter said, “Mamaw, why are you looking in that book?” To which my sister replied, “Because I want to fix this problem with my car.” At that point, little 4 year-old Emma ran into the house and came out with her own book. “Here, Mamaw, this book will tell you how to fix your car.” My sister looked at the book and said, “It is your Bible, Emma.” “Yes, Mamaw, everything you need to know is in this book, even how to fix your car.” What great faith!
I wonder how much more God would fix in our lives if we truly lived out what the Bible teaches us. Little Emma is right when she says that her book has all of the answers. God’s Word has the answer for every question we have and for every step we need to take. The only thing we need to do is to have the faith to believe it and obey.
Pray for that child-like faith today and ask the Lord to plant His Word on your heart and mind. “Meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.” (Joshua 1:8)
Today’s Reading is Hebrews 11:6
Your Harvest is Due
Now he that ministereth seed to the sower both minister bread for your food, and multiply your seed sown, and increase the fruits of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10)
Have you ever said, “When God when?” He hears you and He will answer you in due season.
So many times I want things now! I want to see the fruit of my sowing now as I cry out to God, “I’ve been faithful to sow! I am your servant; hear my cries. When Lord? When will you come and heal? When will you increase my substance? When will you answer?” Just when.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “All good things come to those who wait.” It is somewhat true. I’d like to add the words, “…on God while continuing to sow.” If you continue to sow the seeds God has given you to sow, you will reap a good harvest in due season. However, only He knows which season.
Your job is to keep plowing and sowing precious seed. Cultivate your crops. Weed. Spray some bug repellant so the locust don’t eat up your crops. Pray for rain, your season of harvest is coming!
The Lord upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. (Psalm 145:14-15)
Some seasons are short and some are forever long, but He knows your “due season” for a bountiful harvest. Don’t give up plowing! I know it gets hard and the sun is hot, but keep tending your fields! Harvest time is coming!
Father God, Lord of our harvest, give us strength for our season of plowing that we may reap a bountiful harvest in due season! In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen!
When I read this is made me think about the service we had yesterday in church. Our pastor reminded us that FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real but if we would replace FEAR with FAITH, Father All In Thy Hands and trust Him that He is The Lord of our harvest, He will give us strength for our season of plowing in ways we never imagined. He is faithful.
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is 2 Corinthians 9:10-15
By Faith
The Hebrews 11 definition of faith is pretty straight forward. The Christian faith means confidently hope in the promises of God. Not pretend to “hope” but actually pessimistically doubt, we are to confidently hope. There ought to be a certain bounce in our step because our confidence in God’s promises is so great. We know He will fulfill His commitments to us.
Our confidence in His promises come from our assurance in what we do not see. This is such a hard thing because we humans don’t see a whole lot. For starters, we don’t even get to see God Himself. We are taking it on faith that He even exists. It’s not a baseless faith, but it is faith without sight. And we also don’t get to see how God is working for us behind the scenes and out of our sight. This blindness can often be a harder leap of faith then the leap in believing in God at all. Not knowing how God is going to work all things together for our good and yet remaining confident in our hope in Him? That’s not an easy ask. But it’s not one the Lord asks of us ignorantly either. While God doesn’t know what ignorance is like, He knows us. He created us and He perfectly comprehends how we function and how challenging it is for us to walk faithfully when we cannot see what the full picture of what is happening or how it will end.
The mystery of faith and the assurance about what we don’t see has been compared to quilt-making. On the underside of the quilt, all you can see is the knots, the apparently hapless crisscrossing of different threads and colors. It looks like a disaster, a mess. But on the right side of the quilt, we see a beautifully embroidered pattern, one that could only be wrought by a master seamstress. We live on the underside of the quilt. But we like to think that we are living on the right side of the quilt, so when things go wrong, we panic and think that the design of our lives has gone terribly wrong and that everything is ruined. But there is a master Designer knitting and knotting us into a beautiful work that only He can see. We have to trust that the knots and messes of our lives are being worked out into beauty as our God has promised. We are to have assurance that He sees what we do not and confident hope in the promises He has made to us.
When I read this it blessed me and I wanted to share it with someone today. I trust there is someone who needed this today. What a mighty God we serve.
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Hebrews 11